Ive held off from buying the orange bladed saber in hopes that whatever company that releases the larger sabers that can fold into the hilt without sound effects will release it eventually.... Last releases Ive seen were the Dooku and Mace Windu (gold EpII hilt) and that was last year sometime... Anyone even know the name of the company and how to maybe ven contact them??

So far theyve released the following
EpI
Maul
Obi
Qui

EpII
Dooku
Mace

JangoFart

08-03-2003, 02:55 AM

Ive held off from buying the orange bladed saber in hopes that whatever company that releases the larger sabers that can fold into the hilt without sound effects will release it eventually.... Last releases Ive seen were the Dooku and Mace Windu (gold EpII hilt) and that was last year sometime... Anyone even know the name of the company and how to maybe ven contact them??

So far theyve released the following
EpI
Maul
Obi
Qui

EpII
Dooku
Mace

When I read this quote from DravenUnleashed, I was thinking about a tidbit from Thrawn's follow-up from Hasbro:

"We think kids are into Star Wars because we will sell more lightsabers this year than in 1999." (Not an exact Hasbro quote; I know that was not allowed. But, very accurate translation, I have no doubt.)

I agree in toto with Thrawn's reply on this issue. But, I think that reply should be fleshed out a little more.

My take on this position of Hasbro is: How foolish to think that.

I have kids - 3 of 'em: 8 y/o girl, 7 y/o boy, 2 y/o girl. Each of my kids are Star Wars fans. Each has a number of opened and unopened Star Wars figures/items of their own in their room. (The 2 y/o has Playskool and loves them.) Each frequently play with their opened figures and the older ones really care for their carded figures. Each enjoy Star Wars hunts with me and are always looking to add to their figure collections.

Each has one lightsaber. Each barely plays with his/her lightsaber. Each one does not want another lightsaber.

The quote by DravenUnleashed goes a long way to point one thing out to me that I kinda thought was the case, but wasn't sure. Now I am. That thing is: It is NOT "kids" who are propping up the lightsaber market. It's collectors!

It's collectors of lightsabers who even know which ones have been released and the variations of each. I don't collect lightsabers and surely lack the intelligence to either agree or disagree with DravenUnleashed's list. If he knows enough to guess at a list, he knows more than me on the topic, and I'll defer to his wisdom.

It's collectors of lightsabers like DravenUnleashed who buy, at a minimum, one of each new lightsaber cranked out by Hasbro. I'm sure those lightsaber collectors with kids buy their kids much more than one lightsaber - As I, a carded/boxed 3 3/4 figure/vehicle/accessory collector, buy my kids much more than one carded/boxed figure.

How foolish to think that "kids" who have one lightsaber are just dying for another. How foolish to behave in a manner that acts as if: (1) There is an endless supply of kids; (2) There is an endless supply of kids who give a rats about Star Wars; and (3) There is an endless supply of kids who give a rats about Star Wars and further give a rats about buying multiple lightsabers.

I think it's high-time Hasbro come to grips with that "fact" - if, in fact, it is a fact as I THINK it is :) - and realizes that COLLECTORS make this WHOLE SHOW run and COLLECTORS are dying for more NOT-TO-BE-FOUND product. Not kids who, unfortunately, seem to have only enough passing interest in the line to lay a "I want it so bad" impulse-buy guilt trip on their parents.

Kinda takes us back to the good ole supply and demand model. Oddly enough, it is TYPICALLY the demand side of the equation folks tend to worry about. Collectors have shown they have the demand. Hasbro has failed to show it has the supply - except for the few collectors who can afford $15+ bucks a pop for new figures via eBay and on-line retailers. I hear tale there are some folks in some parts of the country finding some few things. That's a small start. But, then again I did just describe it as "small" and "start."

Bottom line: Collectors pay your house/car/boat loan notes. Collectors want more NEW product. Get more NEW product to collectors. We don't care how. We do care when. We are flexible on the price issue. We don't want "we said/they said" excuses. Just do it.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

J

JediTricks

08-03-2003, 09:38 PM

Draven, the company that released those non-sound light-up sabers is "Rubies" -- they make Halloween costumes mostly. For Ep 1, they released US and international versions of the Jedi sabers (the international ones didn't require screws to lock the battery hatches closed and had a thinner, more accurate design, a collar lock to hold the blade in, and a better silver paint job) and I think 2 versions of Maul's saber as well, though the issues there were different from the 2 Jedi sabers.

For Ep 2, besides the items you mentioned, I believe they released an Anakin saber and Jango's blasters as well, but that's pretty much it from them, I suspect they'll re-release some of these items for this Halloween but I don't think they're going to do any more. Too bad too, those international sabers had flimsy blades which made them useless for play but they looked better than their US ones and way better than the Hasbro ones.